Geekend: Star Wars/Star Trek Rumor Mills In Hyper-Drive

Internet is breaking under the strain of so many rumors about our favorite geek franchises.

Welcome to the second installment of the Geekend on InformationWeek. If this is a new concept for you, check out last week's column for an explanation. If you are an old Geekend veteran, you'll be excited that we’re covering rumors about some old friends this week.

Earlier this week the Internet giddily glowed with rumors about two of our favorite series -- Star Trek and Star Wars. Star Wars Episode VII (am I the only one that is glad that we're back to episodes matching the number of movies? When someone says "the seventh one," we all know which one that means unlike "the fourth one") broke the interwebs with two rumors -- the Millennium Falcon is back and we have some high class new cast members. Star Trek inspired people to fix the interwebs so it could announce (and then recant) that Netflix had partnered with CBS to make a new Star Trek series. Then it promptly broke again.

Of course, my little geek heart went all a flutter, especially when pictures leaked of the Falcon in mid construction and JJ Abrams cleverly posted this picture.

My advice to JJ -- let the Wookie (and Twitter) win. Rumors are just going to keep coming, like the one that just leaked about Simon Pegg being cast because he visited the set and has been in every JJ Abrams movie since Abrams's film school project -- Lens Flare Cabaret.

You can't stop the rumors nor worry about confirming or denying them all. And Abrams cleverly understood that with his non-denial denial picture.

In fact, I say embrace the rumors. Throw more out there. Enough rumors and we may actually get a new Star Trek series because CBS will see how much buzz the rumors create. And it is a good way to keep a movie that hasn't even been made in the public eye. Remember how much buzz Boy's Life got from claiming Tony Stark designed R2-D2, and there was a Marvel crossover movie coming?

So in that spirit I thought I'd throw out some rumors that I'd like to see come true:

The new Star Trek series is coming and it is about Klingons. You may have heard the actor who played Worf, Michael Dorn, is trying to get a Captain Worf series going. I have to say, with all apologies to Dorn, that Worf on a ship is probably played out. I'd like to see a series with Klingons based on the homeworld and the intrigue in the High Council. How about Worf on the High Council with a corrupt leader of the high council loyal in some way to the Duras family?

Another new Trek series called Star Fleet Academy. Think of it as Saved By the Bell meets Star Trek.

Why would anyone want that, you ask? Because Star Trek characters got a bit stuffy in the later years of the Next Generation and shows beyond that. In Star Fleet you have all these fit, brilliant people around and all they do in their spare time is read old books and play poker. It would be fun to bring back the playfulness of the original series with all flirting but less of the sexism.

Episode IX features a Death Star. You know you want it. The only good Star Wars movies featured one. How could we do it any other way?

Episode VII features Hayden Christensen ... dying in a pleasing way like King Joffrey on Game of Thrones. Let's face it, Hayden was so bad that he nearly single-handedly brought down a franchise. Watching him being dismembered to rise as James Earl Jones was not enough. Fans deserve to see him die. They deserve to react like this (by the way, special geek honors goes to the young woman on the left who complains about cutting the wedding cake with Valyrian steel):

Luke Skywalker gets injured in episode VII and needs a Vader-like mask and is voiced by James Earl Jones. I don't know why this makes sense or anything. I just don't like Mark Hammill's squeaky voice.

Darth Vader comes back ... and he really is all of these peoples’ father.

So what rumors would you like to have come out? Which of them are you hoping are true? Do you want a new Star Trek series? Excited for Episode VII? What do you think the plot will be? Comment below.

David has been writing on business and technology for over 10 years and was most recently Managing Editor at Enterpriseefficiency.com. Before that he was an Assistant Editor at MIT Sloan Management Review, where he covered a wide range of business topics including IT, ... View Full Bio

I'm about to geek out here so stay with me, this is the geekend post so I think I'll be OK. During the Clone Wars series (yes I know it's for kids, I have 3 so I'm allowed to watch) they cover Mortis, a planet that is the conduit for the entire force. A neutral father has spent an eternity trying to keep balance between his two children, one that personifies the light side and the other that personifies the dark side. They bring Anakin there to take over for the father because he is dying. So the story line is set that Anakin/Vader is neither good or evil he controls both sides of the force. Seeing Anakin/Vader in that light changes how you look at what he is doing. He's not necessarily evil as Vader he is balancing power in the galaxy. An all seeing eye in the Sauron sense would work and could be a good way to show his awareness and his influence.

Now I'm wondering what the ratio is of villains coming back to life vs heroes who fake their deaths to come back and surprise a villain. Maybe this is a tactic that both sides use and we only see it from the hero's perspective when a villain dies. Maybe he's faking his death so that he can recover without harassment and make the hero feel overconfident. When watching the Star Wars series I feel cheated by the prequels because the fall from little kid Anakin to Vader is like a Karate Kid training montage.

@zerox203- Thanks. A new rumor for you. They've decided after the accident with Harrison Ford that the new bad guy will be the Millenium Falcon brought to life. :)

Seriously, I think you are right. The stakes are high. The generation of Star Wars fans that owned every Star Wars figure (like everyone else, i kept mine in a case that was Darth Vader's head) now has kids and grand kids.

The prequels did fine on merchandise but were not the juggernaut of the original (when adjusted for a changing market).

But right now might be the sweet spot for a new set of movies money-wise. And from a story perspective, you've got a surprsingly sci-fi free television field right now. Lots of super hero fare. Lots of fantasy. Lots of supernatural stuff. A geek paradise...unless you are into pure space sci-fi.

Good to see we're finally invading another site with our baseless movie speculation :). I mean that sincerely - I don't know if I could get through the week without it. I'm definitely attuned more to the sci-fi end of things than the comic one (not that there isn't plenty of crossover), so it's good to see these two heavy hitters back in the spotlight. You've definitely got a knack for the rumor-mill, Dave... I have my ear pressed pretty close to the floor when it comes to this stuff, but you always seem to be able to mention something that I haven't heard yet. More importantly, you've got an interesting opinion to go with it - unlike the linked TMZ 'articles', which are about five lines long.

There's a lot riding on these next Star Wars and Star Trek movies (let's assume it's a given that another Trek movie is happening). Certainly, any producer or marketing exec will agree on that... but it goes double for those of us with geeky hearts. These two will set the tone for how sci-fi will be viewed for the rest of the decade; if we'll get more movies or series, how our beloved 'extended universes' (or is that just me) will be handled... and if people are still going to stuff us into lockers. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Exactly. So many villains have "died", only to be resurrected and brought back to life in one way or another. Sometimes it's because they're so popular; other times, it's because no other villain has stepped in and stepped up to the plate, so to speak.

@Rich- I'm sure you are right. But 8 weeks is a long time. They are still saying the movie will be on schedule, but two months without the best actor in the movie is goign to be rough. Especially when that actor is so old that pushing him when he comes back might be a bad idea. He's playing a part that requires energy, even if the character has aged.

Not trying to insult older folks. I know plenty who can run circles around me. I'm just tyring to respect the crazy schedules that actors in movies like these have to keep.

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